NAFDAC introduces business support desk for SMEs

 As part of its efforts to promote productive interaction with stakeholders, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has introduced ‘Small Business Support Desk’ to encourage small scale businessmen/women in various parts of the country.

Making this known to newsmen at a stakeholders’ forum, Paul Orhii, director-general, NAFDAC, said the idea was to stimulate industrialisation and alleviate poverty in the country.

Orhii noted that the Small Business Support Desk would create an opportunity to liaise with the industry.

“We have our rules and regulations in NAFDAC but we want to hear from you, to exchange views, to know areas to correct you,” he said.

The aim of the Small Business Support Desk is to create a platform to liaise with small businesses to foster greater understanding of NAFDAC procedures and also to serve as an enquiry point for clients on regulatory issues.

The desk also aims to improve access to information on product registration, to provide timely feedback to stakeholders and sectoral groups and to clarify NAFDAC’s laws and regulations to the regulated industry.

NAFDAC, Orhii said, has also come up with electronic registration where business owners can register their products with the agency within the confines of their offices.

He added that the agency has reduced the period of registration of products to 90 days, provided clients submit the requisite documents promptly, assuring small business operators of the agency’s readiness to support the registration of their products to meet acceptable standards.

The NAFDAC DG also decried the indiscriminate use and wrong application of agro-chemicals and pesticides on farm produce and said the agency was working to clean up the chemical market.

ALEXANDER CHIEJINA